Thirty Four pax showed up in the Petra gloom for a slow-burn with the Sapper! Although four pax went for a 4-6 mile mosey, the remaining pax commenced with the program.  We were fortunate to have one FNG a.k.a “F3Gracie” to join in the suffrage! After a quick disclaimer and demonstration of skills needed to accomplish the workout it began. The theme of the day was to honor the core values and physical abilities of SGT David Franks based on his actions in Ghazni, Afghanistan.
The Warm-up: We conducted the overhead arm-pull stretch, the windmill, Moroccan Night Clubs, SSH’s and some Merkins.

The Thang:  We started with a short mosey around the Petra AO that led us to the Wall of Pain for the workout to begin. Upon negotiation of the obstacle, we broke into three-man teams and performed a two-man battle carries for a distance of about 100m. We then conducted an additional round of Merkins while waiting for the six to arrive. We then continued to mosey down to additional (and higher) Walls of Pain. Upon negotiating those, we continued to mosey back to the AO where we conducted additional rounds of Merkins, Wide-arm Merkins, Staggered Merkins, Carolina Dry Docks Monkey Humpers and finally, the Wave of Merkins. We ended with a slow-burn of LBCs while we waited for the runners to return
Announcements: F3 Dad/Child Event that will take place at 10:00 at the park in Fort Mill
Prayer Request: Reborn-unspoken,  Apache M-Day-1

F3 Nation . . . Knowing the PAX likes to be challenged, we have something special just for us . . . Ragnar Trail Carolinas is coming to Fort Mill, SC, at  Anne Springs Greenway on October 7-8, 2016! The deadline for Ragnar Trail Carolinas is Sept. 8th.

The Ragnar Trail Carolinas is an awesome F3 team CSAUP challenge and a great opportunity to hang out with fellow PAX, family, and friends. Through this event we will be afforded the opportunity to promote the mission of F3 to those in the “Ragnar Village” campsite area.

Our goal is 15 F3/FiA teams from all regions. So, The Fort Region is extending an invitation to the entire Nation to enter this event.  Allow us to be your hosts and offer support to you and your families as you attend this CSAUP event! Organize a team or sign up individually and we will find a team for you!

Quick Race Details. 8 men (or 4 men Ultra/twice the distance) to a Ragnar team. Each teammate runs, on a rotating basis, trails with distances of 3.3, 5.3, and 7.5 miles for a total of 16.1 miles per runner (team total 128.8 miles).  Between your running, hang out in the Ragnar Village which will be filled with various activities, food and socializing with PAX, family, and friends.

About Ragnar Trail Relay. The Ragnar Trail Relays are held around the country and bring teams together for a 1 night, 2 day challenge. Teams “camp out” in the Ragnar Village while a teammate runs one of the 3 trail loops. More info: https://www.runragnar.com/ragnar

Team Organization, Costs and Registration. Register your team for Ragnar here. Use special F3 code CT16MF3 for $150 off team entry.  Cost after F3 discount and fees is approx. $145/runner.  Registration includes: Team parking at Greenway, camping space, finisher medal and shirt, meal and S’mores on friday evening. After registering, please add your team’s information to our F3 tracking spreadsheet here. Individuals, or partial teams, please enter your information here so that we can assist in filling your team.

Free team entry fundraising opportunity with RunningWorks. RunningWorks, a non-profit organization in Charlotte, is offering a FREE team entry opportunity. Also, in conjunction with Ragnar, for every F3 team who uses the F3 discount code, $50 will be donated to RunningWorks by Ragnar.

In partnership with RunningWorks, whose mission is to use sport to empower individuals and families to break cycles of abuse, neglect, poverty and homelessness – one stride at a time, F3 teams have the opportunity for a free team entry.  If teams desire to serve RunningWorks, they will raise a total of $3600 per team to earn their free entry into the Ragnar Trails Carolina event.  If your team is interested or if you want more information, contact Reborn.

How RunningWorks and Ragnar are working together. View article here.

Ragnar Village Campsite Area. F3 Teams will be camping overnight in an F3/FiA designated campsite within Ragnar Village. Food and drinks will be available in the Ragnar Village, and you are welcome to bring your own food to the campsite.

Special Workouts for F3. This is a great opportunity to meet your fellow PAX and to spread the word about F3 in the Ragnar Village to other Ragnarians. We will be holding workouts every three hours during the event which should elicit interest from others in attendance. NEED: Campsite WO Qs – Contact JRRTolkien to be added the the Q list. ***You do not have to be in the race to Q a workout.

Additional Information.

• Start times are on Friday 10/7 between 9:30 am – 4:00 pm (Slower teams start earlier).
• It is highly recommended that all teams have a volunteer to be a runner for anything the team needs.
• Each team should be prepared to bring their own food. Generators are not allowed.
• There are bathroom facilities on the Adventure Road side of ASC, but showers are TBD. 
• Friends and family will be able to come and go without being charged a fee into ASC.
• Fort Mill Area PAX!  We are the host region for this event. We need your help in organizing F3 efforts and making our fellow PAX from other regions feel welcome!  Contact Bolt to help with organizational and social efforts. Contact Reborn for general Ragnar information. Contact Gauge during the race for any information. 
• View the Ragnar website for Schedule of Events for both Friday and Saturday.

Helpful Links. If you are new or even a veteran to trail running, a great website to help you get started or perform better is www.trailrunningmovement.com

Not feeling very creative this day so I decided to proudly borrow a HIIT workout from my friend Argonaut. With some guidance the night before I proceeded to download the app & music he kindly referred to me… and just like that everything was setup for the next morning. One thing to note, the two playlist he sent me was not kid friendly (#earmuffs).

While music was played (that you needed earmuffs for) and a tabata timer, we performed a series of exercises together for 30 seconds, followed by 15 second of recovery to prepare for the next station. After each cycle, run around the parking lot and return for the next round. 7 rounds were completed.

Warm-up:
The warm-up segments were as followed:

• SSH
• IW
• Merkins
• Squats
• CDD
• Seal Jacks

Jog a lap around the parking lot (2 minutes)

The Thang:
This second round, I cannot remember what the heck we did… Just know it was a build up as we’re still warming up. That’s what I get for waiting a week.

Jog a lap around the parking lot (2 minutes)

Completed 3 sets of:

• Air squats
• Mountain climbers
• Jump Squats
• High Knees
• Alternating Jump Lunge
• Tuck Jumps

Jog a lap around the parking lot between each set (2 minutes)

Completed 2 sets of:

• 8 Count Body builders
• Flutters
• Tuck Jumps
• Freddy
• Bear Crawls (forward 15 seconds / background 15 seconds)
• LBCs

Jog a lap around the parking lot between each set (2 minutes)

Moleskin:
One thing we know is that Indian Land guys are not the best about getting BB up. That being said, there is going to be more push to ensure these get added on a regular basis. Not too many prayer request / things going on other than Hog & Coyote on Father’s day weekend.

Always an honor to lead… Bounty Hunter over and out!

I said it.  I tweeted it. I even opened with it at 0514.  I’d been off for a few days and was feeling anxious and ready to be back in the gloom. I knew I would start hard.  ~7 min pace down Main Street, backward bear crawl up stairs, 5 X 3-merkin burpees at the bottom of the hotbox and partner derkins at the top.  Down the stairs… but by the time we got down to the park, I had lost half of the PAX.  A gentle nudge by @Mayhem (I think) that today’s PAX was “23, not 6” reminded me that leadership isn’t showing what a badass you think you are, its working with and for your brothers, friends, coworkers, or family toward a common goal.  To show the way and allow for each to grow.  Long story short:   What started as an unitentional “me” quickly turned to “we” after some #collisionlearning.  More on the “intentional” irony below

Thank you brother @Mayhem for the accountability.

New plan audibled in the park and following COP, we used the 4 corners of ledges included Derkin Wall Crawls, Dips, Step Ups, and Derkins.  Rinse/Repeat X3.  PAX led PLANKORAMA until #six came in.

Mosey down to short garage.  5 Merkins at every Column till the #six.  got to column seven, I think.  6 Minutes of Mary followed with Carolina Dry Docks in between each set.  Usual suspects were in attendance: LBC, heels to heaven, flutter, hello dolly, etc.

Mosey to Shovel Flag for COT

NMM

I started the workout with the word Intentional.  Something I have been stewing on lately in my personal life.  Be intentional today.  Be purposeful today. Welllllllll, a much timelier lesson came todayat my own expense and #cobains (all apologies) #lexicon were expressed to PAX.  Sometimes in life we find ourselves half way down a path and whether on our own or someone/thing intervening causes us to realize that it’s not going right.  And we as leaders MUST have the ability to admit fault, course correct and go down the next path.  Parenting, heated conversations with the M, choice of words, maybe even careers!  How about daily choices- honestly- how long do you go down the wrong direction on a highway before you suck up your pride and turn around?  (what?  too literal?)

Much love to all the brothers this morning.  And for the record- my back is sore and I hate backward bear crawls up the stairs…

Jekyll